1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to software for generating and manipulating computer-implemented planning calendars, and more particularly to a system and method of multi-layered online calendaring and purchasing.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventional software applications for calendaring and scheduling generally take one of two forms: stand-alone or networked. In a stand-alone calendaring application, some sort of user interface is provided which allows a user to specify dates and times for events. Events may then be viewed on a day-by-day, week-by-week, or month-by-month basis, depending on the user's wishes. In many such applications, selective viewing of certain predefined categories of events is provided.
An example of a stand-alone calendaring application is “In Control” by Attain Corporation. Many other calendaring applications are available which offer similar features. In “In Control”, three views of the user's calendar information are available: Outline, Calendar, and Day. Outline View allows the user to view events in a list format, and also permits hierarchical arrangement of the event descriptions. A date and time can be associated with each event, and the user can also specify other types of information, such as priority, description, and the like. In Calendar View, a conventional calendar is displayed. Events from the Outline View are shown on the calendar in their appropriate locations according to the date associated with each event. The user can specify the range of dates to be displayed, such as for example one week, two weeks, or one month. In Day View, events for a single day are shown on a display resembling a conventional paper day-planner. Items having a specific time are shown within the daily schedule at the appropriate time. Events not having a specific time are listed in a “To-Do” list next to the scheduled events.
Stand-alone calendaring applications, such as “In Control”, are effective for managing one's calendar, but they do not provide an easy mechanism for importing events from an outside source in an automated manner. For example, if a user is planning to attend a baseball game at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the entry for the baseball game must be manually entered in the calendaring application. Such applications do not provide an easy way to automatically import such information from, for example, a list of sporting events from an outside source. The following disadvantages present themselves:                Manual entry of events is prone to errors;        If the scheduled event changes, the user may not be aware of the change and may fail to reflect it in the calendar; and        The above-described method does not provide a way to inform the user of events that may be of possible interest.        
In addition, stand-alone applications do not provide the capability of sharing one's calendar information with other users.
Some prior art calendaring applications operate in a networked environment and thereby allow sharing of calendar information. Individuals' calendar information can be shared across a network connection (if the owner of the information grants permission for such access). Applications such as Microsoft Outlook, from Microsoft Corporation, provide this type of functionality. However, such applications do not generally provide the ability to import event information from outside sources on a category-by-category basis, and then to select individual events from selected categories for inclusion in a user's personal calendar. Furthermore, such applications do not provide a multi-layered calendaring system wherein events belonging to different categories and selected by a user can be overlaid on one another in a single integrated calendar.
Relatively recently, hosted calendaring applications have been developed which store, in a central location, all calendaring information for a large number of users. Such prior art systems include, for example, appoint.net (www.appoint.net), Yahoo! Calendar (calendar.yahoo.com), and EventCenter from Amplitude Software Corp. (www.amplitude.com). Users access their calendar information across a network, such as the Internet, and security is assured by requiring that each user provide a login and password when accessing the system.
Some of these hosted calendaring systems allow users to add events from outside sources to their personal calendars, if desired. In general, however, such capability is limited in its flexibility. In particular, none of these calendaring systems allow a user to select a category of events, and subsequently add individual events from the category to a personal calendar. Furthermore, none of these systems provide a multi-layered calendaring system wherein events belonging to different categories and selected by a user can be overlaid on one another in a single integrated calendar.
What is needed is a calendaring application that allows a higher level of flexibility in the way events can be imported and viewed.
What is further needed is a calendaring application that permits a user to select categories of events that are of interest, and which provides features allowing a user to add selected events from those categories to his or her personal calendar.
What is further needed is a calendaring application that allows a user to associate layers with certain subsets of events, and to selectively view any desired combination of layers in an integrated manner on a personal calendar page.
What is further needed is a calendaring application that allows a user to share selected calendar information, including selected events, with other users.
What is further needed is a calendaring application that allows a user to purchase products, services, or tickets associated with an event, using online communication means.